Oak Point, also known as Oakpoint, (residents use Oak Point) is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
in
Cowlitz County, Washington
Cowlitz County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 110,730. The county seat is Kelso, and its largest city is Longview. The county was formed in April 1854. Its name derives from th ...
. Oak Point is located northwest of the city of
Longview, reached by traveling westbound out of the city along
Washington State Route 4, also known as Ocean Beach Highway, and turning north onto Mill Creek Road. The Oak Point community is part of the
Longview School District, a
K-12
K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993 by karateka Kazuyoshi Ishii.
Originally under the ownership of the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), K-1 was considered to be the largest Kickboxing organization in the world. ...
school district of about 6,600 students.
Background
Oak Point received its name from the fact
George Vancouver
Captain (Royal Navy), Captain George Vancouver (; 22 June 1757 â 10 May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Uni ...
and his men came across a grove of
oak
An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
trees there.
Local lore has it that the community was served by several saloons, a general store, and a post office in the late 19th century, A water powered lumber mill was once located on Mill Creek, near the intersection of Mill Creek Road and Ocean Beach Highway. A "one room" school house served the community until about 1964. The school actually had at least two large rooms and also served as a community center, hosting women's club meetings and community Christmas gatherings. A
lumber camp
A logging camp (or lumber camp) is a transitory work site used in the logging industry. Before the second half of the 20th century, these camps were the primary place where lumberjacks would live and work to fell trees in a particular area. Many ...
was situated at the end of Hunter Road in the 19th century and a log flume is said to have transported logs to the mill, a distance of approximately 3 miles. Stumps of old growth trees cut during the logging camp's heyday, some of which are up to six feet in diameter, can still be seen throughout the area.
Geography
Oak Point is characterized by thickly forested hills, and steep canyons through which a number of small creeks run. Soil consists of a thin layer of black loam in forested areas and dense red clay throughout. Under the clay is usually found basalt rock a few feet down. The southern limit of the community is bordered by a steep cliff on the Columbia River. This cliff is several hundred feet high. Some homes in the community were threatened when an approximately one mile stretch of the cliff face gave way without warning back in the 1960s.
References
External links
Longview Public Schools website
Unincorporated communities in Cowlitz County, Washington
Unincorporated communities in Washington (state)
{{CowlitzCountyWA-geo-stub